Welcome to the BlackLOG, this is the story of me, my wife - the long suffering "Mrs B", our cat "McG" and the various friends and acquaintances that we meet through life. It is all based around what happens to us, but is often stretched in an attempt to entertain. I do not deliberately set out to upset people but it occasionally happens (I have a fairly dark sense of humour at times).

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Thursday, 24 June 2010

Who would have thought Dorset such a hot bed of scandal?

Some good news for fans of The Beast, I’m not sure if it was the damn good talking to I gave him, based around the whole “Taking part is just as good if not better than winning” (Who believes that rubbish?) or it might have been after a couple of days of reading through the manual that I found out how to reset him. Whatever - The Beast is back and taking great (well, in my biased opinion) pictures. On a similar subject I am rather glad that I had used a clear filter on all my lenses, as the filter on the 70-200mm lens somehow shattered. I hate to think how sick I would have been feeling if that had been the glass of my lens……

This weeks photo competition, over at “In a yellow house” is Water. I was foxed for a second, especially as the publicity shot she used is so awesome and so I thought of not entering this week. Then I remembered some shots I took last year, when we went white water rafting. The Beast had been locked in the car while we were rafting – sometimes I fear he might have rabies as he does not react well when he is around water – but afterwards he was so pleased to be out and off the leash he was up for anything.

The power of man v power of nature -

There was only ever going to be one winner

Well done that Beast...

Cycling in Dorset
It seemed like a good idea at the time when we loaded the bikes onto ElleGee but our suspicions were realised when, on our return from our first bike trip, Mrs B read out the description of the journey we had just undertaken which involved words such as: strenuous; highest point; rolling hills; steep inclines. It didn’t mention Olympic training, altitude or even sickness but it can’t have been far below the surface of the article or at the very least between the lines. We should have guessed when ElleGee struggled on the journey to the cottage that we were staying at, often having to drop into second and on one occasion first gear but your mind has a way of blocking these things out (It took ages to get the bikes loaded so I was determined to make use of them). I’m sure some of the views must have been stunning; it’s just we were both so knackered that once we reached the top of what had seemed like a never-ending climb all we could manage to do was roll down the other side. I would like to say we bravely let the bikes run but it was all we could do to keep the brakes on and even then we were still topping 30 mph. 26 miles of this were more than enough for one holiday and so the bikes were put out to pasture for the rest of the week and we let ElleGee take the strain - when it came to using wheels at least.

The Bikes going for a ride on ElleGee....

Now why didn't we think of that earlier?

Oh no, more dodgy content
After last week’s Bee porn ordeal I had hoped that we would be able to run a relatively clean BlackLOG this week but alas, it is not to be. Among the many magnificent sights that Dorset has to offer we came across some rather seedy ones. The first being what appeared to be a glamour shoot for octogenarians*. Fortunately they were so craggy that when they did strip off they blended into the surrounding rock faces and so we were spared from the worst of it. There were a few disturbing grey tufts that suddenly appeared along the cliff face but I managed to switch my mind off to what they really were and substituted seagull nests instead….

* Please note for modesty’s sake I am steering well clear of using the term Sexagenarians. Sorry, despite recent experiences, it’s just not that sort of blog…..

For those of you with exceptional

observational skills you might be

able to pick out some odd looking

grey nests and some crinkly bottoms.

Then there was the Cerne Abbas Giant

Cerne Abbas is a beautiful little village which just happens to be over looked by a chalk picture of a naked man with a very large appendage. I guess because it is historic, over 1500 years old, it somehow becomes acceptable. I just wonder what the Puritans and latterly the Victorians made of it. Face it, anyone who took the trouble to cover table and piano legs, because of how immodest they found legs in general must have been beside themselves with shock at seeing that plastered all over a hillside. There are stories that the Victorians allowed the undergrowth to cover the offending item. Now that would have been a bush to witness…..

Look away now if you suffer from

excessive Victorian sensibilities…..

We were going to buy the clock but the

appendage was clearly second hand....

Sorry could not resist that one, it was much

funnier when I said it in the shop....

More TV fun
The TV at the cottage that we had booked in Dorset was not huge but was a darn site better than last weeks dolls house effort in Deal. So what if it was an old fashioned type…?. Only when I turned it on the colour was blown……I phoned up the emergency contact number (Come on, this was in the middle of the World Cup! What more of an emergency could there be?) The owner promised to come over the next day to see if he could fix it….. Now, how good is this? He brought over his own large flat screen TV from home and some fresh grown strawberries to sweeten the deal. I felt a bit guilty until he assured me he was going away so didn’t need it. It’s just a shame the England performance against Algeria didn’t live up to such a generous gesture. If I thought it would have helped I would have called up the emergency line again to see if he could fix England for me but our short term landlord had gone away…..How selfish is that?

Other highlights of the week were the fake Tutankhamun and history of mummification museum. I’m not entirely sure what that had to do with Dorset but it was fascinating all the same and has fired up our desire to go back to Egypt and take The Beast with us.

Photo finish
So the new section I launched last week has made it to a second publication, any more of this and there is a danger that it might become a permanent fixture. To end with in the traditional way, some pictures taken on our trip to Dorset....Hope to catch you all next week...

17 comments:

soupemes said... "Lulworth Cove, this is what I thought of the stupid sign not to take any pictures....Love it!

I almost didn't recognise you, your soupiness, you've altered your appearance...Has your blog had a cut and blow dry????I must admit I am getting increasing annoyed by the signs that are appearing in our country, so much so I’m thinking of making it a subject ofa BlackLOG exposure…..

Wonderful, wonderful photos, who says you can't take scenic snaps of the cove? The Council, god or the locals themselves? Ridiculous. And a miracle recovery for the Beast!!! Truly you have been blessed this week. Can't even comment on the fact that Mrs B looks both rested and awake, which is unusual, but probably the result of all your holidays. I love the chalk man, and still want to live in a country that smiles on his shamelessness. When 'they' say he can't be photographed or must be covered its time to move overseas! Best wishes to The Beast - (and his reset button)

skipperthewonderhorse said... Wonderful, wonderful photos, who says you can't take scenic snaps of the cove? The Council, god or the locals themselves? Ridiculous.I fear we live in a country that has gone sign mad….

And a miracle recovery for the Beast!!! Truly you have been blessed this week.I have to admit I was a little worried about him…

Can't even comment on the fact that Mrs B looks both rested and awake, which is unusual, but probably the result of all your holidays.I think Mrs B was actually asleep behind those glasses and I had to move her body into the pose….still I got to inherit her Ice-cream….

I love the chalk man, and still want to live in a country that smiles on his shamelessness. When 'they' say he can't be photographed or must be covered its time to move overseas! Best wishes to The Beast - (and his reset button) I believe the Victorians did try and reduce the size of his appendage but The Beast, sorry the giant came back even bigger

Nikki said... Looks like a wonderful beach holiday. Is it any warmer over there yet? Could you swim? There were a few brave souls who ventured in for short stints before being taken to the nearest hospital suffering from hyperthermia. I fear due to our huge national debt we have had to stop heating the water around our coastline

Was it planned to have the ipod playing What a Beautiful Day, to fit in with the beautiful bay? Very clever if it was.At last someone has noticed….. There has often been an attempted link between the music and the weeks blog subject. If you managed to stay around long enough the second song – The levellers was also connected

Unfortunately I have good eyesight and could work out where the crinklies were in that picture - at least you did spare us the detail.I decide not to take photo’s of elderly exhibitionist for fear I end up on some sort of over age sex register….So it was just cliff face

And why aren't you allowed to take photos of Lulworth Cove - does it actually belong to somebody?I believe it belongs to the nation, i.e you and me. Now I have no objections to taking pictures and I assume you don’t so that’s unanimous, motion carried.

Yellow House said... I am glad you submitted that picture this week! I havent been rafting in years. Looks like a fun time and it certainly shows water!No problem, thanks for running the competition. I must admit I have no expectations this week as you have drawn out some awesome entries....The Beast will sulk but that's just the nature of the beast ….

Unfortunately I have good eyesight and could work out where the crinklies were in that picture - at least you did spare us the detail.I decide not to take photo’s of elderly exhibitionist for fear I end up on some sort of over age sex register….So it was just cliff face

Danica-Dragonfly said... Aren't you 'pithy' this week... second hand ... oh dear. Still chuckling at that one.That has to be my word of the week “Pithy” Those photos at the end are just lovely.Thank you I personally would LOVE to see every picture ever taken in Egypt. I would so very muchly love to go there.I hope you get the chance to see it in person it is an incredible place, it is just such a shame that the people are so grabby and pushy. Wow “muchly” and “pithy” in the same comment